


Blue Box

by pigeonking



Series: The Missing Doctor Adventures - Season One [6]
Category: Doctor Who, The X-Files
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 16:32:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10312466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pigeonking/pseuds/pigeonking
Summary: Doctor Who meets the X Files... Nuff said!





	

Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. April 1994.

Bobby Morton and Jimmy Tyler had been stalking the Grizzly downwind for half an hour now. They were so intent on bagging this bear that they had allowed themselves to wander further away from their campsite than they had initially intended and it was starting to get dark. If they didn’t get this bear soon then it would be too dark to make it back to camp. They would be forced to sleep out in the open.

“We should turn back now if we want to make it back to camp before it gets too dark!” Jimmy ventured a little timidly to his big friend. Jimmy didn’t like to antagonise Bobby. They may be friends, but there were times when Bobby could act the role of a bully and use his size to get what he wanted out of situations. Like now for instance.

“We’ve come too far to give up on this bear now, Jimmy. Just think; once we kill it we can skin the fucker and use its hide as a blanket for camping out under the stars until morning.” Bobby chuckled at this grisly little jest.

“It’d take all night to skin the damn thing, especially in the dark, you dumbass!” Jimmy retorted.

Bobby looked over his shoulder at Jimmy, his brow darkening with threatened violence.

“What did you just call me?” he growled.

Jimmy blanched and immediately regretted his former outburst.

“I didn’t mean no harm by it, Bobby. You know that!” he stammered. “I’m just trying to get you to see sense. It ain’t even the season for hunting Grizzlies. If we should get caught we’ll get into a whole shit load of trouble!”

Bobby turned around fully, holding his rifle down at his side in one hand. He loomed over Jimmy, tall and menacing like the Grizzly that they were hunting.

“Listen to me you dumb piece of shit! We are getting that bear and that’s final. If anyone says anything we just says that we was defending ourselves; that the Grizzly came at us outta the woods and that it was kill or be killed! You got that?” Bobby rumbled menacingly in a low voice.

Jimmy nodded; he was trembling with fear, afraid that Bobby was going to hit him. He took an involuntary step backwards and hadn’t realised that he had backed up to an area in the forest where the ground dipped into a sudden steep incline. Jimmy stumbled and lost his footing and before he knew it he was tumbling backwards head over heels into the snow below. He landed face first into the snow and just lay there for a moment, not unconscious, but too dazed to move nonetheless.

From above he could hear the sound of Bobby’s laughter.

“You, Jackass! Now look what you went and did!” the big man roared down at him, shaking with unconcealed mirth.

The snow felt cold on Jimmy’s face and he knew that if he lay here with his face planted in it for too long he’d suffocate. Now wouldn’t that be a humiliating way to check out?

Jimmy was about to lift his face out of the snow when suddenly he felt the snow moving beneath it.

What the fuck was that? The snow undulated beneath his face again and he felt something wet and sticky, something that wasn’t snow.

Jimmy quickly lifted his face away from the snow and as he pulled back he saw what it was that had been moving and that had now broken the surface.

He screamed.

Bobby looked down at his friend who was suddenly writhing around in the snow at the foot of the inclination.

“Jimmy? Are you all right?” he asked.

Did he just see something wriggle its way into Jimmy’s mouth, forcing its way down like a bloated maggot boring into dead flesh?

The tip of the mysterious thing disappeared out of view and all of a sudden Jimmy’s writhing and screaming ceased. He just lay still. As still as death.

No, not death; even from up where he stood in the lessening light, Bobby could see that his friend was still breathing. He supposed that he should go down there and help him.

Bobby started to make his way gingerly down the steep slope, taking great care not to slip and end up sliding down the rest of the way on his ass. Somehow he managed it and was soon standing over his stricken friend.

Jimmy was just lying on his back, his wide eyes staring up though he didn’t appear to be seeing anything. It didn’t even seem as if he saw Bobby standing right over him. His breathing was shallow and barely perceptible, but it was there. Bobby noticed some sort of clear thick mucus that had formed around the rim of his mouth where that thing had gone in.

“Jimmy, are you okay?” Bobby asked. “Quit fooling around now and get up!”

Jimmy didn’t move. His lips started to twitch slightly, as if he was trying to speak but the words wouldn’t come.

“What’s that, Jimmy?” Bobby wondered; he moved his head closer, bending down so that his face was over Jimmy’s. “I can’t hear you. Say it again!”

Jimmy’s lips continued to twitch, but still no audible sound came out. Bobby leaned closer. He was practically on his hands and knees bending over Jimmy within kissing distance.

Jimmy’s mouth opened wide. Wider than should have been possible and Bobby screamed.

He screamed because Jimmy’s mouth was filled with long needle-sharp teeth that had no right to fit into a human mouth. And then Bobby felt himself pulled down as the thing that had been Jimmy grabbed him by his jacket lapels and yanked him down towards those teeth.

Bobby had time to scream just once before the teeth tore into his face and in one bite removed everything that he needed to scream with.

 

  1. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington DC. Three days later.



In a small dingy office that may or may not have once been a janitorial cupboard a young man with well-groomed short brown hair and wearing a navy blue suit and tie was sat at his desk with his feet upon it as he waited for his partner to arrive. On the wall behind him there was a poster depicting a flying saucer UFO with the slogan ‘I want to believe’ beneath it.

This was Special Agent Fox Mulder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He and his partner, Special Agent Dana Scully were the sole investigators assigned to the X Files, a department that specialised in the investigation of paranormal and unexplained phenomenon.

A young attractive woman with shoulder length red hair and wearing a light beige skirt suit over a white blouse entered.

“Good morning, Mulder!” she greeted the young Special Agent with a warm smile.

“Morning, Scully!” Mulder replied with a boyish grin. “I hope you’ve packed your bags because we’re going to Alaska on the next flight out there!”

“You know I haven’t.” Scully responded with an indulgent smirk. “Do you want to tell me why we’re going to Alaska?”

Mulder swung his feet off the desk and picked up a hold-all travel bag that had been beside his chair.

“I’ll explain everything once we’re on the plane. Come on; we’ll swing by your place and pick up your travel bag along the way.” With those words he left the office.

Scully had no choice, but to trail after him, rolling her eyes as she went.

 

Two hours passed before Scully finally got to receive her briefing from Mulder. After the drive to her house she had packed a bag for Alaska with lots of warm clothes to prepare for the cold climate up there; then there had been the drive to the airport and the collection of tickets, checking in and then finally they had boarded the plane.

Mulder and Scully had taken their seats and then Scully had tactfully reminded Mulder that she still did not know why they were going to Alaska.

He had responded with his trademark enthusiastic grin and pulled a handful of manila files from his hand luggage.

“Have you ever heard of the Wendigo, Scully?” Mulder opened cryptically.

“The Wendigo is a cannibalistic monster or evil spirit from Algonquian folklore. There is a belief that a man lost in the wilderness who resorts to cannibalism in order to survive will become a Wendigo with an insatiable hunger for human flesh.” Scully recited for him dutifully, she had researched all manner of folklore and ufology since being assigned to the X Files. “Are you saying we’re going on a Wendigo hunt, Mulder?”

Mulder’s grin grew even bigger than usual.

“That is precisely what I am saying, Scully.” He replied. “You know I always get turned on when you talk dirty to me!” he added jokingly.

Scully couldn’t help but chuckle.

“So what makes you think that we’re dealing with a Wendigo, Mulder?” she asked.

“Three days ago two friends, a Robert Morton and a James Tyler, went on a hunting trip into the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. When they failed to return home the following day, James Tyler’s wife reported them missing. The local Sheriff’s department and the park rangers put together a search party. They found what was left of Robert Morton hanging from a tree. His body had been eaten. That was not all they found though. Not long after finding Morton’s remains they were attacked by a large animal. Two park rangers and a deputy were killed. Bullets didn’t work on this thing, Scully. If they had stayed to fight it then they would all have been killed. As it was they ran and lived to tell the tale. A tale that I got wind of thanks to my sources. That thing is still out there, Scully and it’s up to us to find it and stop it before it can kill again.” Mulder told her.

“That doesn’t tell me why you think it’s a Wendigo we’re dealing with.” Scully pointed out. “Could it have been a bear? A big enough bear could have been able to withstand a sustained bombardment of gunfire from small arms long enough to cause the damage and mayhem that you described before succumbing to its wounds later. It doesn’t have to be anything supernatural.”

“You’re totally right, Scully accept for the fact that none of the rangers or deputies were carrying small arms. They were all loaded for bear, if you’ll excuse the pun, with high powered shotguns and rifles. If a bear had attacked them then they should have been able to bring it down regardless of how big it was. Then there’s the fact that they never found any trace of James Tyler, only the remains of Robert Morton, which they were able to identify via his dental records after a second team went back in later to recover the bodies. By the time that second party got in the creature was long gone and the bodies of the rangers and deputy killed had been devoured almost beyond recognition. Whatever this thing is, Scully, Wendigo or not, it is powerful and it is hungry!”

“Wait a minute. Are you implying that you think that James Tyler might have been the Wendigo?” Scully suddenly twigged like a light bulb had been turned on inside her head.

“It is a possibility that I had considered, yes.” Mulder admitted.

“Mulder, James Tyler and Robert Morton were not gone anywhere near long enough for James Tyler to have been driven to the levels of starvation that might have forced him to consider cannibalism as a viable survival option. This is not a Wendigo case!” Scully insisted.

“Maybe not.” Mulder conceded. “But that isn’t the only reason we’re going to Alaska.”

“What is it, Mulder?” Scully asked with a level of exasperation that she had fine-tuned to an art form.  

Mulder selected one of the files from the handful he’d taken out.

“My source informs me that we have an eye witness that confirms that this may be a blue box case.” He told Scully whilst handing the folder to her.

“A blue box case?” Scully opened the folder and took out a selection of photographs. Some were in colour and some were black and white. There were some really old photos numbered among the black and whites. Each photo had one thing in common; they each depicted the same box, a blue box, as evidenced by the colour photos. Some were quite clear whilst others were blurry and out of focus like a lot of UFO and paranormal photography. In the clearer ones writing could be made out on the top of the blue box: “Police Public Call Box”.

“Why am I looking at these, Mulder?” Scully, not for the first time, was confused.

“In 1969, around the time of the moon landings, President Richard Nixon received help from an unknown and mysterious individual codenamed ‘The Doctor’. This ‘Doctor’ helped to repel some sort of threat or incursion on US soil that apparently would have had dire global consequences if it had gone unchecked. We don’t know about it because, surprise, surprise… our government covered it up.” Mulder explained.

“So how do you know about it and what has this got to do with the blue box?” Scully pressed.

Mulder grinned. “Scully, please, a magician never gives away all of his secrets. What I can tell you is that the mysterious ‘Doctor’ was said to possess a blue box… just like the one in the pictures.”

“Are you saying that all of these pictures are of the same blue box and that wherever this box was so was this Doctor?” Scully asked incredulously.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Scully.” Mulder confirmed.

“Mulder, if what you are implying is even remotely true then this Doctor would be a very old man by now.” Scully pointed out.

Mulder nodded. “Very old indeed. There is even a recorded sighting of that box dating back to Tombstone in Arizona, 1881… the time of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.”

Scully opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again… she wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Mulder took this as a cue to continue.

“Wherever and whenever this blue box is sighted there is almost always some form of paranormal or unexplained incident connected to it. UFO sightings, monsters, you name it! And the Doctor is always there too. The X Files have an entire cabinet dedicated to blue box cases and now we have one because someone has sighted the blue box in the Yukon Refuge.”

“Are there any pictures of the Doctor?” Scully wondered.

Mulder handed her another folder.

“Lots of photos attributed to the Doctor, but they are all different men. It doesn’t make sense.”

Scully looked. There was one black and white photograph of a tall skinny man with a tweed jacket and bowtie giving Richard Nixon bunny ears with his fingers as they both posed for a photo. One black and white photo depicted another skinny young man with spiky hair and a long jacket over a striped suit and tie. He was looking up at a partially finished Empire State Building. An attractive African-Caribbean woman wearing jeans and a leather jacket stood at his side.

“This one looks like it was taken around the 1930s, but the clothes of the man and the woman look like they’re from a more modern era.” Scully observed.

“I know, right!” Mulder agreed.

“These photos have to be fakes, Mulder.” Scully insisted.

He shook his head. “I already got ‘em checked out by an expert a while back when I first started working on the X Files. They’re all genuine. I’ve been waiting for a blue box case to fall into my lap for a long time and now I finally have one!” Mulder’s eyes were shining with enthusiasm.

“You mentioned before that ‘The Doctor’ was a codename. Maybe it is, but with a different man every time?” Scully suggested.

“It’s possible.” Mulder conceded, “But how do you explain this?”

He took the photos from her and selected one in particular which he handed to her.

Scully looked at the photo.

“Oh my God!” she gasped quietly.

The photo showed the same skinny man from the Nixon photo. He wore the same tweed jacket and bowtie, but this time he also wore a Stetson cowboy hat and an old fashioned Wild West Sheriff’s badge. There was also a gun belt with a six-shooter revolver in it, strapped around his waist.

The photo was old, a lot older than the Nixon photo had been.

“This photo was taken in Mercy, Nevada in 1870. It isn’t a fake either, Scully.” Mulder told her.

“How is this even possible?” Scully wondered handing the photo back.

“I don’t know, Scully, I don’t know. But maybe we can be the ones who finally get to find out?”

He left that statement hanging and the rest of the flight to Alaska passed in relative silence.

When they got there they’d have a Wendigo to hunt and a blue box mystery to solve.

 

When their plane touched down at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Mulder and Scully had to get on another smaller plane that had been laid on for them that would fly them the rest of the way to the refuge. The flight to Eek, the small town within the refuge where the first two victims had hailed from, was another couple of hours and the two FBI Agents slept most of the journey.

Upon arrival in Eek Mulder and Scully hired a rental car and headed straight for their motel paid for on the bureau’s expenses. It was dark when they finally arrived and they mutually decided that a visit to the Sheriff’s department could wait until the following morning. Nobody in their right mind would be hunting the Wendigo tonight. Would they?

 

Nobody was, but two fisherman friends, Zeke Abrahams and Pete Kelly, had been out on a fishing and camping trip since a few days before the first attack. They had not heard the Sheriff’s warning to stay out of the woods because they hadn’t been about to hear it. Both were unashamed bachelors and didn’t have any wives or girlfriends that would be at home worrying about them. Shit, if it wasn’t for the fact that they occasionally got the yearnings for some home style creature comforts they probably would never leave the woods at all!

As it was they spent as much time out here as they could, only returning to Eek when the call of a comfy bed, a warm fire and a home cooked meal became too loud to ignore. Yup, there were times when a sleeping bag, a camp fire and tinned food heated over a gas stove just didn’t cut it. Sometimes that tinned food was supplemented by the fish they caught or some wild animal trapped in one of their snares, but that all relied on skill and just a little bit of luck and the odds were that they’d go without some nights just as often as they scored a hit.

Zeke and Pete hadn’t had much luck on either front the last couple of days so tonight they had decided to try some night fishing, just to see if it would make any difference.

A warm camp fire crackled between them as they sat in their portable fishing stools, their rods dangling in the water, a cooler opened beside them that contained the last of their dwindling beer supply.

“Got any bites yet, Zeke?” Pete drawled as he pulled the ring on his second can of the evening.

“Not a dick one!” Zeke called back. “You?”

“You’re kidding me, right?” came the reply.

“I hope I get something soon!” Zeke opined. “I don’t think I could stand to eat another tin of beans tonight!”

“Me either!” Pete agreed. “If tonight’s a bust, what say we go back into Eek tomorrow for a resupply and some proper food at Jessie’s Grill?”

“You’re talking my language, Pete! Won’t get no arguments from me!” Zeke replied.

A rustling sounded in the woods behind them. Footfalls crunched in the snow and the rumbling of a large beast.

Zeke and Pete laid down their rods and got up out of their stools.

“What the fuck was that?” Pete wondered.

“Sounded like a bear.” Zeke offered. “Fire off a round with the shotgun. That should scare it away!”

Pete picked up the shotgun and obligingly fired a blast into the trees.

Once the echo of the shotgun’s retort had faded there was an eerie silence.

Zeke nodded with satisfaction.

“That showed him!” he snorted.

Something big that was definitely not a bear darted out of the darkness of the woods, long stiletto sharp teeth bared, dagger-like claws flailing.

Pete didn’t have time to get off another shot before he was tossed aside by a blow from one of the tearing talons. The claws slashed through his abdomen and his chest like scissors through cotton and his intestines and internal organs were shredded. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Zeke was caught by a back handed blow as he turned to run and even the mere nick of talons that he received was enough to nearly sever his head from his neck. Only the tiniest scrap of skin held it in place as he fell forward, the crimson gout of blood from his hideous wound painting the snow red where he fell.

The Wendigo fell upon his bleeding corpse and feasted as the camp fire crackled on in the background.

Over in the water Zeke’s float was suddenly pulled under as, too late, the fish began to bite.

 

Mulder and Scully arrived early at the Sheriff’s department the following morning.

A young fresh faced deputy that looked like he had barely graduated from high school greeted them at the front desk. There were also two civilians sat in the waiting area who looked like they might have been waiting there all night. They were a man and a woman. The man appeared to be in his mid to late thirties with brown hair and soulful brown eyes that looked like they had seen more life than his apparent age would belie. He wore a long grey coat that may or may not have been cashmere over a navy blue shirt and matching tie, black trousers and steel toe-capped black boots.

The woman appeared to be in her early twenties. She had blonde hair that came down to her shoulders and was wearing an all in one red jumpsuit that had a fur lined hood, gloves and boots that complimented the ensemble. Her eyes were closed as she was lying with her head against the man’s shoulder, fast asleep, snoring gently with a thin line of drool pooling into her companion’s sleeve. He didn’t seem to mind at all and seemed to be sitting deliberately still so as not to disturb her.

This all changed when Mulder and Scully walked in. The deputy did not even get a chance to acknowledge them, as soon as the man saw the two FBI agents he got up rather abruptly from his seat… the woman toppled sideways with a yelp and woke up suddenly, nearly ending up in a heap on the floor.

“Doctor!” the woman protested sleepily.

The Doctor ignored her; his attention was entirely focussed on Mulder and Scully.

“You must be the two FBI Agents!” he proclaimed, there was a mild Scottish brogue in his voice. “It’s about time you got here! The Sheriff said that we couldn’t make a move until you arrived.”

Mulder and Scully were taken aback by the forwardness of this stranger.

“That’s right.” Scully shook the Doctor’s hand. “I am Special Agent Dana Scully and this is my partner Special Agent Fox Mulder. We’re here to investigate these animal attacks.”

“Yes, we have offered to help the Sheriff find this… ‘animal’ too.” The Doctor told her.

The woman had joined him at his side now, but was still rubbing sleep from her eyes with one hand.

“And who would you be?” Mulder was wondering.

“I’m the Doctor…” the Doctor began, but he was nudged in the ribs by his female companion.

“John!” he amended with a tight grin. The woman nudged him again. “Doctor John…” Nudge. “Smith! Doctor John Smith!”

“You seemed to need a lot of prompting there just to remember your own name.” Mulder observed.

“He gets very absent minded sometimes!” the woman flashed a dazzling smile that was all teeth. “If I wasn’t with him he’d probably forget why we were here!”

“This is my charming assistant, Clover Daniels.” The Doctor introduced her through gritted teeth.

“And what qualifies you two to help us hunt down this dangerous animal?” Scully asked.

“I could ask the same question of two FBI Agents!” the Doctor returned. “Not exactly your jurisdiction is it?”

“We’re with the X Files. We specialise in dealing with bizarre and unexplained cases.” Mulder explained, though he did not see why they owed this man an explanation.

“And you think this situation qualifies as bizarre and unexplained?” the Doctor asked. He didn’t sound like he disagreed, he was just curious to hear what Mulder had to say.

“I suspect that what we’re looking for here may in actual fact be a Wendigo.” Mulder ventured, not sure how this Doctor Smith would respond to such a wild theory.

“A Wendigo?” the Doctor replied. “And what makes you think that?”

“From the witness reports that I’ve read pertaining to this case none of the descriptions given of the ‘animal’ correspond with any known species that lives in this refuge. Plus the fact that it was able to withstand fire from high powered rifles and shotguns that would have brought down even the biggest of grizzly bears. To me that suggests something a little out of the ordinary, don’t you think?” Mulder explained.

“Granted.” The Doctor agreed. “But why specifically a Wendigo? Why not a werewolf or a Nandi Bear or some other creature from folklore?”

“The werewolves I’ve encountered haven’t generally been impervious to firearms. That whole silver bullet thing is just a myth perpetuated by Hollywood. Nandi Bears are indigenous to East Africa so unless this one is extremely lost I do not think that’s what we’re dealing with. Besides, I’ve never had a Wendigo before and this is the right neck of the woods so to speak.” Mulder replied.

The Doctor looked impressed.

“You have an impressive knowledge of the lore, Agent Mulder. I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly!” he beamed.

Clover and Scully both rolled their eyes in unison.

The deputy in the meantime, having been ignored throughout this exchange, had taken the liberty to go and fetch the Sheriff.

A large imposing man, impressive and intimidating even though he must have been in his late fifties, came with the deputy, dressed in the familiar uniform of a U.S. Sheriff complete with the hat, gun and badge.

“You two the FBI Agents?” he addressed Mulder and Scully, shaking their hands each in turn.

Mulder and Scully introduced themselves, flashing their badges in order to confirm their identities.

“I’m Sheriff Ward and this is Deputy Shane. I see you’ve already met Doctor Smith and Miss Daniels. They’re two amateur experts who have offered to loan us their erm… expertise in tracking down this creature we’re after.” Ward told them.

“Have there been any other attacks?” Mulder wondered.

“None that have been reported, but maybe that just means that the poor bastards didn’t live to tell the tale.” Ward offered. “I gotta say that I appreciate you guys coming along. We could use all the help we can get on this one. That’s sort of why I agreed to let the Doctor and Miss Daniels in on this. The Doctor has convinced me that he knows what he’s talking about. It was his suggestion that we should use fire to destroy this thing, whatever it is.” He turned to Deputy Shane then.

“Any word on when those flamethrowers we ordered might be arriving?”

“Oh shit, Sheriff! I forgot to tell you. Our request for flamethrowers got turned down. The powers that be aren’t convinced that we actually need ‘em!” Shane replied apologetically.

“I’d like those shit stain pen pushers to come down here and take a look at that thing out there and then tell us we don’t need those fucking flamethrowers!” Ward snarled angrily.

“Perhaps we could improvise something?” Mulder suggested.

“I don’t know. Flamethrowers are dangerous and unpredictable at the best of times. Not sure we should mess around and try and make one ourselves.” Ward said with a frown.

“Let me retire to my… workshop.” The Doctor offered. “I think I might be able to help.”

“We’ve already waited long enough. The longer we leave it the more chance there is that some other poor bastards are gonna get themselves eaten. We’re just gonna have to make do somehow.” Ward shook his head.

“If we don’t wait and go ill prepared we will be the ones that get eaten!” the Doctor countered.

Ward grimaced as if he’d tasted something bitter.

“I don’t like it, but go do what you gotta do. You have one hour!” he conceded. “After that we go and get this thing, ready or not!”

 

After the informal briefing in the foyer the Doctor and Clover departed immediately for their ‘workshop’.

Mulder counted to ten quietly under his breath after they left. On reaching ten he headed for the exit after the two strange amateurs. Scully followed on his heels.

“Where are you going, Mulder? We can’t go anywhere until they come back.” She reminded him as they hurried along at a discreet distance behind the Doctor and Clover.

“I know that, Scully!” Mulder replied in a loud whisper. “But I want to see where they’re going.”

“Why?” Scully asked.

“Did you hear what he called himself before all that business with the nudging and the ‘John Smith’? Come on, Scully! John Smith is the oldest fake name in the book! You know that as well as I do. Or didn’t they teach you that at FBI Kindergarten?” he grinned at this last remark.

“You think this man might be the Doctor? But he doesn’t look like any of the men in the pictures.” Scully protested.

“Maybe he’s camera shy?” Mulder quipped. “Either way I want to see where he goes. Just in case.”

They continued to tail the Doctor and Clover, ducking into cover every so often if one of them happened to look back. The two mysterious amateurs disappeared behind Eek’s local library.

Mulder and Scully followed as quickly and stealthily as possible.

A strange howling and grinding noise filled the air.

“What is that?” Scully wondered.

The two FBI Agents rounded the corner.

Whatever the noise had been it had faded and there was nothing there to indicate what had made it. There was a large square imprint in the snow as if something had previously occupied that spot until recently. Two sets of footprints led up to the imprint and then vanished.

Of the Doctor and Clover there was no sign.

Mulder and Scully searched the alley, but they found nothing.

“They can’t have just vanished into thin air!” Scully protested.

“Can’t they? It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing we’ve ever encountered.” Mulder countered.

“Come on. Let’s get back to the Sheriff’s department. At least we know one place where they’ll definitely be in less than one hour from now!” Scully suggested.

They turned and retraced their steps back out of the alley behind the library.

“They’re gone again, aren’t they?” a voice called to them from across the street.

Mulder and Scully looked to see a Native American man who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, with long black hair that came down passed his shoulders, wearing a tanned leather jacket over a white T-shirt and faded blue jeans.

“Who’s gone?” Mulder called back guardedly.

The man crossed over the road to join them.

“You guys are the FBI Agents, right?” he asked furtively.

“Who wants to know?” Mulder responded.

“I’m Kijika Miller. You must be Agent Mulder of the X Files? I’m a big fan of your work. It was me that reported the blue box sighting to the local Federal Office. I knew that somehow it would find its way to you.” The man explained.

“You must be the local conspiracy nut?” Mulder grinned as he shook Kijika’s hand. “What do you know about the blue box?”

“It’s a little informal standing out here in the middle of the street, don’t you think? I know a good café near here fixes up a good cup of coffee and bacon bagels to die for. I’m willing to bet that you guys skipped breakfast this morning, right?” Kijika replied.

Scully’s stomach growled in response to that and she blushed.

“Coffee and bagels does sound good right now.” She conceded.

Kijika flashed her a dazzling smile of perfect white teeth.

“Coffee and bagels it is then!”

 

A short while later the three of them were sat in Jessie’s Grill, a quaint little diner that had been just a short walk away from the library.

They had waited until the coffee and bacon bagels had been brought to them before continuing their conversation.

“There is an old legend among my people about a great shaman who visited our tribe at a time of great need and helped to rid them of evil spirits that had been causing trouble on our lands. This shaman travelled in a blue box that appeared out of the wind and disappeared back into it after the spirits had been defeated, taking the shaman with it. That story always fascinated me as a child. It’s probably one of the reasons I’m such a ‘conspiracy nut’, as you put it.” Kijika grinned and winked at Mulder at this.

“So where did you see the blue box?” Mulder asked, though he felt that he already knew the answer.

“That noise that you heard before entering the alley? I heard that same noise three days ago while doing some research on the library computers. I went outside to investigate and saw those two strangers come out of the alley. After they went I ventured down the alley and that’s when I saw the blue box just standing there with not a lick of snow upon it. I knew at once that I was looking at the same blue box from my people’s legend.” Kijika told them.

“That’s nonsense!” Scully protested. “A blue box cannot just appear and disappear like that!”

“This one can, Agent Scully.” Kijika answered matter-of-factly.

“After this Wendigo case has been resolved I think we need to have a talk with this Doctor ‘Smith’.” Mulder decided.

 

After their impromptu meeting with Kijika, Mulder and Scully returned to the Sheriff’s department to await the return of the Doctor and Clover.

About five minutes after Sheriff Ward’s deadline the two came staggering in carrying not just one but three flamethrower units between them. The Doctor carried one of them. Clover had one of the others strapped onto her back whilst carrying the third.

“Sorry we’re a bit late!” the Doctor apologised.

Mulder looked at the flamethrowers. They looked to be genuine, authentic World War Two issue models, but they seemed new as if they’d just come off the production line.

“How were you able to knock up not just one, but three flamethrowers in what amounts to little under an hour?” Ward asked incredulously.

“Would you believe they were just lying about in my broom cupboard and it was just a matter of finding them?” the Doctor replied evasively.

“You know what? I don’t care where you got them, I just care that we have them.” Ward conceded. “I’ll take one of them and the other two can be given to my deputies.”

“I’m keeping mine, if you don’t mind!” Clover argued. “You think I’m going out Wendigo hunting without this baby on my back then you better think again, buster!”

“You sure you know how to use one, Miss Daniels?” Ward asked.

“I’m sure I’ll figure it out. You sure you and your deputy can use one?” she countered.

Ward took his flamethrower from her and smiled grimly.

“We’ll figure it out.” He told her.

“Actually, do you mind if I take the third one?” Mulder asked.

Ward looked at him then nodded slowly.

“Alright, seems fair enough to me.” He was shrugging his own flamethrower onto his back.

Mulder took the one that the Doctor had been holding and Scully helped him into it.

“Right, now that we have these we can go and look for this thing, this… Wendigo, or whatever it is.” Ward announced. “We’ll make our way over to the site of the first attack and then from there we’ll split into three groups of two. I’ll be with Deputy Shane…”

“Do you mind if I get paired up with Doctor Smith?” Mulder interrupted.

“If the Doctor has no objections?” Ward said.

“No by all means. I’ll be happy to have Agent Mulder along.” The Doctor agreed.

“That leaves Miss Daniels paired with Agent Scully. Are you all happy with your partners?” Ward asked.

Everyone nodded.

“Okay then!” Ward unhooked the business end of the flamethrower from its backpack and tested its weight in his hands. “Let’s go fry us a Wendigo!”

 

They made their way to the first attack site in two cars. Sheriff Ward and Deputy Shane were in a patrol car while Mulder and Scully drove with the Doctor and Clover in their rental.

Very soon they reached a point where their cars could drive them no further and they had to get out and walk the rest of the way.

It took them about an hour to reach the kill site.

“This is it. This is where the first attack took place.” Ward announced.

To look at the area now you wouldn’t have known that people had been violently killed in the area. Any evidence of violence had long been covered up by fresh snowfall.

The Doctor immediately started examining the area in full Sherlock Holmes mode.

He came to the inclination that James Tyler had fallen into. Gingerly he made his way down into the deep indentation in the forest’s floor.

“Anything down there, Doctor Smith?” Mulder called down to him.

“This is an old crater. Probably made by a meteorite crashing into the Earth many hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago.” The Doctor declared.

“Why is that significant?” Mulder wondered.

“It may well be the source of our problem if we’re dealing with what I think we’re dealing with.” The Doctor replied.

“What do you think we’re dealing with?” Scully asked.

“For all intents and purposes it is the Wendigo of local Native American legends, so we can call it that if you like, but that’s not what it is.” The Doctor told her enigmatically.

“Then what is it?” Ward persisted.

“It’s a parasite. A grub that has travelled through space and landed on your planet. It likes the cold. The cold keeps it alive and it lies dormant until a suitable host happens along and then… BAM! You have yourself a Wendigo. The grub takes over the host and transforms it into a voracious unstoppable predator with an insatiable appetite for flesh.” The Doctor explained.

“But how does a grub fly through space and if it likes the cold then surely it would be destroyed when it entered our atmosphere… it would burn up, wouldn’t it?” Scully argued.

“The planet from which this grub originates is a cold and hostile world of ice and ice-volcanoes. The eggs of the Wendigo grub are dispersed into space by the violent eruptions of these volcanoes, much like the seeds of the Krynoid; remember them, Clover? The outer shell of the egg is durable enough to survive the vacuum of space and protect the grub inside from the heat and friction of entry into a planet’s atmosphere. Of course the grub cannot steer its egg so it will never know where it will end up, but there is always the possibility that it will land somewhere cold, like Alaska. They have obviously landed here before in the past, which is probably what gave rise to the Wendigo legends, but no doubt they have arrived in other cold parts of the world too like parts of Scandinavia where they probably helped to perpetuate the myths regarding trolls and giants. You get the general idea, Agent Scully?” the Doctor powered on before she could reply. “The host doesn’t have to be human either. It could be any unfortunate animal that happens upon the grub and the monster created by the symbiosis of grub and host generally retains an abominable semblance to the original host. Which goes some way towards explaining why there are varying descriptions of what Wendigos look like throughout the lore. Some legends describe them as tall, gaunt and skeletal, others with antlers and there are even bear-like examples. I can’t wait to see it!”

“How do you know so much about them?” Mulder wondered.

The Doctor had clambered out of the crater at some point during his lecture.

“I’ve encountered them before.” The Doctor replied simply.

“Okay, I think we’ve done enough yammering.” Ward interrupted. “It’s time we split up and looked for this thing. Shane can you give them the walkie-talkies, please?”

Deputy Shane obligingly took out six walkie-talkies from his backpack and handed one out to each of them, retaining one for himself.

“We’ll use these to keep in contact with each other. If one pair makes eyes on this Wendigo then you radio in the others for back up. Do not try and take it on alone, do you hear me?” Ward instructed.

Everyone nodded their understanding.

“Let’s go!”

The three groups went off their separate ways. Ward and Shane went north, the Doctor and Mulder east while Scully and Clover went west.

 

It was Scully and Clover who came upon the site where Zeke and Pete had been killed the night before. They came to a large body of water like a small lake. Two portable stools sat at the edge of the water an open cooler bag containing a few unopened beers laid between the two stools. There were also a couple of fishing rods lying half way into the water abandoned and forgotten.

A shotgun lay almost buried in the snow a few feet from the bank. The snow itself was spattered in places with crimson blood, bright and stark against the whiteness. Scraps of bone and other matter were littered among the gore.

“Well. I think it’s safe to say that it’s been here.” Clover remarked.

Scully was re-clipping her walkie-talkie to her belt after having just radioed in their discovery.

“The question is where is it now?” she wondered.

 

Mulder was brimming full to bursting with questions that he wanted to put to the man that walked beside him. The man that he suspected might be the Doctor. His only problem was that he did not know where to begin or how to broach them.

“All that stuff before about the type of planet that the Wendigo grub came from.” Mulder began.

“How could you possibly have known all that? You almost sounded like you had been there!”

The Doctor looked at him as if to say ‘you’re kidding right?’ and they both burst out laughing.

“Of course that’s ridiculous. How could you have possibly visited an alien planet?” Mulder chuckled shaking his head.

“Completely impossible and unrealistic.” The Doctor agreed. “All that back there was just a load of wild mass guessing. The type employed by palaeontologists when they talk with absolute authority on the toilet habits of triceratops or the mating call of a velociraptor! How could they possibly know? They weren’t even there!”

“Exactly!” Mulder concurred, though he got a vibe from the Doctor that suggested that he wasn’t telling the whole truth.

“Have you really encountered one of these things before, Doctor Smith?”

“Well, not exactly.” The Doctor answered truthfully.

“What does that mean?” Mulder asked.

“It wasn’t me, but someone very close to me. A friend of a friend you might say.” The Doctor told him.

“Are you saying that you were essentially repeating an urban legend that you’d heard?” Mulder pressed.

“No, no… this friend has definitely encountered one of these before. The way that he related the experience to me it almost feels like it was me that had the encounter. That’s how vivid it is.” The Doctor tried to explain and once again Mulder felt that he wasn’t hearing the entire story.

“Where did you get these flamethrowers from?” came Mulder’s next question, but it was to remain unanswered.

“Would you take a look at that!” the Doctor exclaimed in astonishment.

He was running ahead until he came into a clearing and Mulder had to jog to catch up with him, the flamethrower heavy upon his back.

The clearing was drenched in blood and there were bits of other things mixed in with it; flesh, bone, fur that was so clumped together with dried blood it was barely recognisable as such. There was even what appeared to be the lower mandible of some huge carnivorous creature lying amidst the carnage, matted fur still attached in some places.

The Doctor picked up the mandible between his thumb and forefinger and studied it carefully.

“I wouldn’t say that I was an expert, but I’d wager that belonged to a bear, wouldn’t you agree?” he remarked.

“What else could it be?” Mulder replied.

“It could at a pinch be a Taran Wood Beast. No wait, I’m forgetting… you don’t have those on this planet do you?” the Doctor muttered partially to himself.

Before Mulder could react to this the Doctor had dropped the mandible and was haring over to the other side of the clearing.

He knelt before his discovery and beckoned Mulder over.

“Behold! The tracks of the Wendigo!” the Doctor declared.

Mulder had barely reached him when the Doctor was on his feet again, following the tracks and measuring the Wendigo’s stride with his own.

“It’s big!” the Doctor was saying as once again Mulder had to jog to keep up. “One of its strides matches two of mine.”

“Why is it so big? If the host was a human like I suspect then shouldn’t it remain roughly human-sized?” Mulder wondered.

“Oh no.” the Doctor shook his head as they continued to follow the tracks. “The Wendigo grub is constantly growing and constantly hungry. The more it eats the bigger it will get and it never stops eating.”

He suddenly stopped a look of horror upon his face.

“What is it?” Mulder had to ask.

“These tracks are going in one direction. They have not deviated once.” The Doctor told him.

Mulder didn’t need the Doctor to continue; he knew what was coming next.

The Doctor did continue nonetheless.

“If it continues on this path then eventually it will reach Eek. Everyone who lives there will be on the menu! Get on the radio, Agent Mulder. We need to get back to the cars and back to Eek before it’s too late!”

 

It was around lunchtime when Kijika Miller emerged from the library. Even though the bagels he’d eaten with the two FBI agents that morning had filled him up he was feeling hungry again so he had decided to take a break from his computer research to get some lunch from Jessie’s.

Earlier on he had taken a walk behind the library and had noticed that the blue box was back where it had been before. He had not heard the strange sound that it made during his research so he felt it was reasonable to assume that it was still there now.

Kijika made his way to the diner looking in his wallet as he went to check that he had enough money to buy what he wanted to eat. There were two crumpled twenties in there. More than enough, he smiled to himself.

It was as he was returning his wallet to the inside pocket of his jacket that he spotted the Wendigo.

The creature was striding purposefully down the road that led out of town and into the woods.

It had long legs that were bent the wrong way at the knees and feet that would have made a sasquatch jealous, the toes ending in long razor sharp talons. The torso was gaunt and skeletal, its ribcage protruding obscenely against the taut grey skin. Improbably long arms swayed at its sides and the hands and fingers were long enough to wrap around a bear’s head, let alone a human’s. Each finger terminated in a long, narrow needle-like claw that was encrusted with dried blood and dead flesh. Horrifying though all this was, it all paled when compared to the hideous head that sat upon its scrawny shoulders. It was elongated and very nearly bald with only a few cobwebs of hair still attached to the scalp. It had a large pointed nose and small feral black eyes, but worst of all was the impossibly big mouth that was brimmed full of stiletto sharp teeth, a long snake-like black tongue protruded over these fearsome flesh rending jaws and a never ending stream of blood flecked drool slathered forth from this nightmarish maw.

The Wendigo towered over nine feet and its lengthy stride carried it down the road at a startling pace. What’s more it had seen Kijika.

The wide mouth opened wider still and a terrible retching screech escaped from somewhere deep inside.

Kijika started to run. If that thing caught him he was dead, but what’s more once it had finished with him it would then proceed to slaughter everyone else in the town without mercy.

Kijika knew what he had to do. He had the Wendigo’s attention. It would follow him now until it had him. He would have to try and lead it away from Eek if he could.

Kijika ran and the Wendigo gave chase.

The first chance he got Kijika ducked down into one of Eek’s side roads, taking care not to run the straightest, most direct route. He knew that the Wendigo would run him down instantly if given the chance. It was a chance he didn’t intend to give it if he could help it. His intent was to double back and lead the Wendigo out of Eek and back into the woods, hoping that its bloodlust would keep it coming after him instead of giving up to go after easier prey.

Kijika had grown up in Eek and knew it and the surrounding woods well. He had always been one of Eek’s fastest runners having won medals and trophies for his running when at school. His hare-like speed had managed to put some considerable distance between him and the Wendigo, but he could still hear its lumbering gait behind him and not as far behind as he’d have liked.

He allowed himself a shout of triumph as he emerged from the alleys and found that he was leaving Eek and heading out to the woods.

Mere moments later the Wendigo darted out of the same alleys and strode with relentless, murderous intent after Kijika.

There were no more buildings for Kijika to duck between and the trees were too far ahead. The Wendigo would be upon him before he could reach the woods. He put on an extra burst of speed.

Giving up was not an option. He was not going to be eaten today if he could help it.

Something hidden under the snow, perhaps a root or a large rock, had other ideas.

Kijika’s foot caught on it and he fell flat upon his face, the wind instantly knocked out of him.

The Wendigo emitted another terrifying retching screech. It raised its right clawed hand and prepared to bury it into Kijika’s spine.

The rental car driven by Agent Scully powered into the side of the Wendigo at about a hundred and fifty miles an hour.

The Wendigo was sent flying head over heels by the impact and landed in a sprawled heap in the snow. It otherwise appeared undamaged, the same of which could not be said of the front of the rental car.

Scully sat in the driver’s seat looking slightly dazed; her airbag had inflated in front of her.

Mulder and Clover got out of the back of the car and ran to the Wendigo which even now was staggering to its huge feet.

As soon as they were within a few feet of the Wendigo they opened up with their flamethrowers.

Twin jets of flame spurted forth like dragon’s breath and engulfed the Wendigo in a conflagration.

It screamed.

The Wendigo flailed and screeched like a walking inferno and Clover and Mulder had to step back, still pouring on fire as they went, so that they wouldn’t get caught in it.

The Doctor was out of the car too by now and after having helped Scully out he looked on at the fate of the Wendigo. A sick feeling sat heavily in the pit of his stomach. That ‘thing’ had once been a human being.

By the time that Sheriff Ward had arrived and added his fire to the blaze the Wendigo had already collapsed and was still. The screeching had been reduced to a piteous gurgling whimper and then finally the only sound had been the crackling of the flames, bones popping and skin sizzling.

It was dead.

Mulder and Clover didn’t stop firing. They just ran out of fuel to burn.

Ward switched off his flame and they all just stood there as the huge carcass was rapidly reduced to ashes. The stench of burning flesh assailed all their nostrils.

The Doctor was the first to turn and walk away.

Clover disappeared soon after; following him.

When Mulder noticed they had gone he went after them too and of course Scully followed him.

Only Ward, Deputy Shane and Kijika remained.

“I had to get him away from the town.” Kijika explained redundantly to no one in particular.

“I know.” Ward said simply. “You did good.”

Silence, but for the burning.

“Come on. I’ll buy us all a drink. I think we’ve earned it!” the Sheriff declared.

And so they left the flames to die. No one that hadn’t seen it would ever know that the Wendigo had ever been there.

 

Mulder and Scully caught up with Clover and the Doctor, again just in time to see them disappear behind the library.

“Hey wait up!” Mulder called and he began to run.

By the time he reached the alley the howling noise from before was already in the air and Mulder thought he saw what might have been a blue box fade away.

Scully caught up with him.

“They’ve gone again, Scully.” Mulder told her with a hint of frustration. “That was him. That was the Doctor!”

“Come on, Mulder. This case is over. We’ve got to get back and write our reports to Skinner. There’ll be other blue box cases, I’m sure of it.” Scully said soothingly.

“Maybe. I guess you’re right.” Mulder smiled at her and they began to walk away.

“Skinner is going to skin us alive when he gets the insurance bill for the rental car I totalled.” Scully lamented.

“He’ll get over it.” Mulder assured her. “Hey, Scully. Have you ever heard of an organisation called UNIT? I’ve been trying to get permission to look at their files for years!”

 

**The End**


End file.
